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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. fine — all right
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — a video
  6. file — a tool
  7. craft — a skill
  8. file — a line of people
  9. craft — boats
  10. clip — for paper
  11. file — a document
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. net — for catching
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. net — after costs
  19. fine — high quality
  20. stand — to bear
  21. net — in sport
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fine — a penalty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com